Piedmont and Western Railroad Club

Presents

Two North Carolina Railroad Stations in


Conover

Depot used by Southern Railway and Carolina & Northwestern (over trackage rights from Southern).The station was demolished in the mid-1970's.

Thanks to Don Barker for the following images and historical information of Conover, NC


Conover Station (circa 1950s)

This Special Edition print commemorates the magic and aura of train travel and evokes that early era. Built in the early years of the 20th Century, the old Conover depot for many years bustled with activity.This print gives mute evidence to the "passing parade" of majestic steam trains of the times, both passenger and freight service. A time when trains' numbers were household words and each with her own romantic history, such as Number 11, the west-bound "noon" train. And Number 15, the early morning west-bound service. Each of these trains brought new comfort and elegance of travel to our very doorstep. Conover was served by the Southern Railway with eight passenger trains and multiple freight trains daily and two combined service trains Number 1 and 2 of the Carolina and Northwestern Railroad.

The north-bound Southern Number 16 could flag stop Conover at 6:25 each evening and one would arrive in New York City refreshed after an evening of unrivaled amenities. Bold herald names like the Skyland, Southerner, Carolinian, Asheville Special and Crescent all gave Conover the link to great cities, their people and the natural beauty of America.

In the mid 1970's, Conover residents arose one morning to discover the old train station had mysteriously disappeared during the night-time hours. The Conover city manager at the time, Ed Robinett, was accused by some citizens of having something to do with the missing relic of Conover's vanishing heritage.

After further study within the history of the town, it was discovered that Mr. Robinette had nothing to do with the "missing station". Some weeks prior to its removal, Norfolk Southern Railroad officials had issued a notice that all inactive stations would be removed from the right-of-way, along the railroad routes from Asheville to Salisbury, and Conover was inclusive. The city officials made no arrangements to purchase and move the station structure.

A few weeks later, during the night, a work train from Norfolk Southern Railroad made its way down the track route and dismantled the building and simply hauled it away and a part of Conover history was gone forever.

Conover's first station was along old highway 10, near uptown, but required trains to back into the county seat. When the original narrow gauge line was removed, standard gauge tracks were installed across town and a new depot was built in 1886. The new tracks eventually became the main line of the Southern Railway.
(Text above © Don Barker   2002. From a commemorative poster dated 1987--postcards available from him)


In 1875 the Newton News Enterprise reported that the new Canova (sic) station being built by the Western North Carolina Railroad was coming along nicely and that the WNCRR would provide rail service from the new station to Salisbury and Old Fort. The News Enterprise reported in 1887 the Presidnet Grover Cleveland's train passes through Conover at 2:22 PM on June 15th.The 1886 depot originally served the Western North Carolina Railroad and later the Richmond & Danville Railroad before it was taken over by the Southern Railway in 1894.

conover station, 1915
1886 Conover Depot

This photo taken around 1915 at the 1886 Conover Depot depicts the first Automobile in Conover. The car illustrated is believed to be an Essex. Those pictured are (L.to R.) Mildred Carpenter Washburn (1879-1970); John D. Yount, driver (?1877-1946?); Mae Moser Sigmon and Miriam Yount Schultz.



©1996-2010 Piedmont and Western Railroad Club